


For Spring

by whalegills



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Background Duck/Indrid, Dysthymia, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-16 18:29:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16500515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whalegills/pseuds/whalegills
Summary: Aubrey and Duck have a conversation.





	For Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this one is for the discord! love yall so much!
> 
> My weakness bows before the strength of these:  
> A sailing-ship withstanding stormy seas,  
> Rocks with their breasts bared to the breaker's sting,  
> Tall forests waiting patiently for spring;  
> And his old face that, while the daylight dies,  
> Watches with smiling lips and quiet eyes.  
> \- DOROTHY C. COCHRAN
> 
> Find me on tumblr at gayratwedding.tumblr.com

Duck knows that it’ll never go away.  
Sometimes he can go for long stretches without thinking about it- long stretches where he feels, by his standards, normal. He learned a long time ago that permanent happiness was only a pipe dream ham-fisted into Hallmark movies. He’s in one of these long stretches when Aubrey starts to prod, which is probably why it throws him off so much.

“Hey Duck?” 

They’re alone in the main room of the lodge, sitting by the waning light of the fireplace. Duck shakes off the sleep he feels dragging at his eyes and shifts, cracking his back as he sits upright. Indrid grabs at the hem of his sleeve, mumbling in his sleep as Duck moves.

“Yeah?” Even his voice sounds tired coming out, scraping at the edges of his throat.

Aubrey looks like she’s trying to figure just the right way to say what she wants to say, her face scrunching up at the edges, thinking. She laces her fingers together in her lap.

“Are you... okay?” Her eyes are stuck in an almost-wince. “And I don’t mean just right now, I mean, like… in general.” Her hands move along to the words ‘In general’, drawing a vague circle in the air.

Duck isn’t sure how to answer. Not many people notice, and he isn’t the type to talk about it too much. He sighs, rubbing at his chin with an open hand.

“I think that depends on what qualifies as okay.” He’s almost scared to talk any louder than he is already.

Both of Aubrey’s eyes look orange in the light, standing out in the soft darkness of the room. She gives him a look as if to say ‘keep talking’, and so he listens.

“I’ve never told y’all this,” He looks down to his side, where Indrid is almost snoring. “Not even him, if I’m rememberin’ correctly.”

Aubrey curls her toes impatiently on the floor, messing with the tears in her jeans. Duck stares down at his lap, barely taking a second to meet her eyes.

“You ever heard of Dysthymia, Aubrey?” He watches her face react, visually passing from one thought to another.

She scratches at the back of her neck. “I think my mom had it, actually- but I don’t know much about it.” She unconsciously pulls her pendant from underneath her shirt, rubbing a thumb over its surface as she mentions her mom.

Duck tangles hand in Indrid’s hair, gently playing with the strands, careful not to wake him.

“It’s kinda like,” He hesitates, only for a moment. “Just… not feeling anything. A lot.” He says.

Aubrey adjusts on the couch. “Like depression?” 

Duck frowns. “Kinda,” He says. “But not really.”

Aubrey cringes. “Sorry if that was insensitive, I-”

He waves his free hand. “No worries. It ain’t that big of a deal.” His eyebrows furrow. “It’s just…”

He stares. He does a lot of staring off into nothing, lost in his thoughts, fuzzy silence at the edges of his mind. His head just feels too full.

“It never stops.” He can barely get the words out of his mouth. “Sometimes, I don’t know what to do.”

There’s a beat before Aubrey is near-crawling across the coffee table between them, pulling Duck into her arms. His jaw smooshes into the dry leather of her jacket. He feels her hair against his cheek.

“We love you, Duck.” She whispers. “Me, Indrid, Mama, Barclay, Jake. Even Ned.” She sniffles. “We love you so much.”

Duck slowly loops is arms around her, fingers curling into the fabric of her jacket. He can feel his eyes start to go watery- not entirely there, but almost.

“I love you guys too.” He says.


End file.
